


Bullets Flashes are Stars to Me

by Nyankittypug



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Bisexual Disaster Luz Noceda, Blood, Death, F/F, Mafia AU, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Useful lesbian Amity Blight, Useless Lesbian Amity Blight, check them out, fistfights, gunfights, motocycle accident in first chapter but it doesn't get very far into detail, thank you to wako_dreamer on Instagram for letting me write with your AU, they're Wolfheart_21 on here, they're aged up, tw for, vehicle palismen, wako_dreamer on Instagram (check them out fellow peasants)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 06:55:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26847778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyankittypug/pseuds/Nyankittypug
Summary: Mafias, magic, and vehicalized palismen, what's not to love about the world Luz Noceda lives in? Sure it can be dangerous, but what's fun without a little bit of adrenaline? Luz is now twenty two years old and is a mercenary between the different mafias, only staying to do a job or two before heading off to the next town. But then a job goes south, and Luz has to return to Bones Burough for a little while, but unknown to her, a surprise waits for her.Y'all go check out Wolfheart_21 (also known as wako_dreamer on Instagram!) for allowing me to write about their AU and for being there every step of the way, they're great and I appreciate them A LOT(On hold for a little bit I ams a sleepy little owl)
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Boscha/Willow Park
Comments: 6
Kudos: 171





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Two bros, chillin in a car chase, two feat apart so they aren't shot

_ Vroooooooom _

_ Bang! _

_ Bang bang! _

Luz couldn’t help but let out a screech of nervous and adrenaline filled laughter, King was in the backseat leaning into the opening yelling at the offenders. Luz reached back and pulled him into the front seat, buckling him up. “Not now King! Hold on tight, we’re getting out of here!” She yells and pulls out her revolver. She wished it was a fist fight rather than a shootout but this was good too, especially since she had carved glyphs into the back of her bullets last night. That at least meant that she had an advantage as she swerved and tokyo drifted (she snorted at the memory of the anime and wondered if it had stopped running by now) into a narrow alleyway, putting a round into the shoulders of the car drivers. 

They were stupid to chase her while she was in her car, she knew this vehicle better than she did herself. One time Eda, her mentor, had made her stay up all night taking it apart and putting it back together. The first hour or two Luz had been frustrated and confused, the third and fourth she had grown quiet with concentration as she began to recognize certain pieces. By the time Eda had come out at nine in the morning in her pajama pants and loose hanging shirt with two cups of coffee she had been prepared to apologize to the kid and help her rebuild her car.

She didn’t know that when she’d walk out her chest would become heavy with pride and her face would hurt later from the amount of grinning and smiling she’d do. Luz cried when Eda pat her on the head and passed Owlbert over to her a few years after that, “I’m too old to be doing this kid, you get out there and make me proud,” Luz had called her once or twice in the last six months (had it been six months since she had truly last seen her?) despite having left Eda’s care and her apprenticeship when she was seventeen. Now she was twenty-two.

A rough searing pain to her bicep brings her out of autopilot, King yelling out her name in worry (she’d tease him for it later but she knew that they’d both worry about each other no matter how small the wound), “I’ve got it King!” She yells and unbuckles him, tucking him safely on her lap against her torso and giving him the wheel as she leans around and starts picking off the motorcyclists. 

Owlbert couldn’t make noises while he was attuned to the car, twisted into the area where the stick shift should have been like a set of car keys that she would  _ never _ lose, but Luz could feel his worry through their spiritual connection. It wasn’t as strong as his was with Eda, but Luz knew that she had to become attuned to him, even if she had created him, which she didn’t. She loved Owlbert either way and sent as much happy energy through their little connection as she could.

A disgusting sputter and squeal comes from one of the motorcycles as a rogue bullet from one of its brothers’ riders hits it ( _ idiot! Don’t they know not to hit their teammates? _ ). Luz forces King to face forward as she watches the motorcycle’s front wheel get turned too far to the left in surprise by its owner and it hits another rider, hitting the last rider beside them before the original leading motorcycle flips into the brick wall of the alley and Luz helps King turn out of the small space and onto a different street.

She waits a moment ( _ forget their screams _ ) and breathes in a deep breath. She begins to turn her eyes to the road ( _ it was either you or them _ ) and holds the breath. The moment her hands touch the wheel she releases the breath with a shudder and listens to the engine growl as she pushes the pedal down as fast as she can. 

She can worry about the sound of squealing rubber and screams cut off with splats and ending with gurgling from both engines and witches as blood and gas and oil oozes out of them and palismen disconnect themselves worriedly ( _ not your fault, they chose to chase you _ ). Luz usually aims for the shoulder or the forearm, that way they can walk away and choose whether or not she’ll have to put a bullet between their eyes herself. She doesn’t kill without giving a chance. 

That doesn’t mean others follow her rules. 

It’s nearly an hour later when Luz calms down from the adrenaline and slows down, no longer swerving between trees and bushes. She’s glad Eda and her had stayed up as late as they did on the weekends tinkering with Owlbert’s car body. He was as lithe as an owl, both on cobblestone and in the woods. Luz sees a remote cave and sighs tiredly as she pulls the car into the little outcove, having to get out of the car to move the roots of a tree growing overtop of it to fit it. 

It’s perfect cover though and she can’t afford to give that up, even if they stopped following her. She knows she should probably cover her tracks but she’s exhausted and decides to plop down on the dirt floor of the cave and sighs exhaustedly before smiling at King and Owlbert who both come over to her. 

King sits next to her and for a moment Luz thinks he’s going to say something nice to her, but then he hits her face and yells “Bap!” And Luz scrambles to grab the little rascal, giving him a noogie on his little bone skull while he yells for her to release him. “No way little guy! It’s my turn to get revenge today!” She laughs and Owlbert flutters around them, making little cooing noises and King shakes his fist at the owl, yelling “Usurpers! Obey your king!” He yells and Luz starts tickling him.

“Stop it!” He yells through his laughter and Luz gives in with a chuckle, hissing as her hurt arm hits the car beside them. Hooty lands on her left shoulder and nuzzles her neck and chin. “I’m okay little buddy, it’s just a graze,” she says and pulls out a knife from its hidden spot in her pants leg. She brings it up and then uses it to carve a fire glyph into the dirt. She touches it and a dirty dim flame starts up. She doesn’t waste any time sticking the flat of the blade into the flames as King helps her unbutton her shirt, move her suspender, and stick her right arm out.

“Are you sure you have to do this again?” King asks, he had seen her  cauterize a bullet wound before. “No, but I don’t want to risk it either way, they snuck up on us and they didn’t pay us the full cut so I can’t get a potion for it in case it gets infected,” Luz says, stamping out the remaining remnants of the poor excuse of a fire. It would’ve been more powerful if it had been drawn better and been on paper, but Luz didn’t want to sacrifice a page of her sketchbook just to heat up a knife.

“You wanna look away King?” She asks and he shakes his head as she sighs and brings the blade over to her arm, pressing the heated part to the little trail the bullet made. It barely nicked her, but it’s better to be safe than sorry later. 

She grunts in pain and grinds her teeth together to keep from screaming but holds out either way. When she’s done she drops the knife to the ground, sighing and blinking away the tears that pool in her eyes. It’s not the worst pain she’s ever felt, she has a handful of real bullet holes and white scars to prove that, but it still hurts like hell. 

“I can’t believe you lost all of our money,” King says after a minute of silence. “It’s not my fault! We said one job and then they tried to kill us when we refused another one!” Luz says and King huffs, “Whatever, we should mark this town off the page anyway, it’s a good thing they were a smaller mafia,” Luz says and moves to unclip her sketchbook from the side of her holster. 

She takes a pencil from her back pocket and frowns as she sees the lead must have broken off during their get away. She sighs and picks her knife off the ground, waving it in the air trying to cool it off. King hits her and laughs as it flies out of her hand, but goes and picks it up for her anyway. Luz shaves off the end of the pencil until she has a nice enough piece of lead sticking out before opening her sketchbook to look at a map of the entirety of the Boiling Isles. There's three towns crossed off, all boxing her in. Except one. “We could go see Eda, last time I was with her someone had started a new mafia, but they left her alone when she turned them down!” King says and Luz gives a surprised expression but thinks it over. 

She’d be closer to both her homes, she’d see Eda again, maybe her mom but she’d probably just chicken out again and call her , she could also see Gus and Willow, they didn’t run in mafias or gangs so Luz didn’t see them nearly as much as she wanted to. It’d be safer, and if this new mafia was respectful maybe she could run a job or two. It’d be a nice little break, she’d get to see some old friends, help Eda out, call or visit her mom. 

Luz feels a flicker of hope spark in her tired body. “Alright, first thing tomorrow morning, we’re going home.” She says with a grin and King shouts in celebration, Owlbert fluffing his feathers and making little noises with his throat as he turns in circles on Luz’s shoulder and she laughs excitedly, picking King up and tossing him in the air. 

They laugh and rough house for a little while longer, before all eventually sprawling out in the car and falling asleep. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in town

“Luuuuuuuz, how much longer?” King asks, for the fifteenth million time, Luz is sure. She grits her teeth and groans, “Only twenty more minutes,” Luz says. King hums in reply and for about five minutes Luz thinks he’s given up on asking the damned question until he speaks up again and she has to keep the wheel steady as Owlbert tries to drive them into a tree. 

“Can’t we go faster?” He asks instead and Luz slams her head on the steering wheel, “You know what? Sure!” She yells out with frustration and begins to zoom down the empty road. 

They turn the remaining fifteen minutes into ten, slowing down the moment Luz sees other cars. She turns to look at King with an agitated face but he just looks at her and she knows he’s smiling as he kicks his legs and says “Thanks Luz!” 

She huffs and brings her knuckles to lightly tap his skull, “No problem King. Just, don’t ask that question again.” He looks away (a happy little “no promises” coming out of him that makes Luz have to keep the wheel straight again) as they make their way through Bones Borough. 

Luz’s mom lived about an hour or two away from here, Luz made sure not to anger any mafias that surrounded the town so that it’d always be safe for her mother, not that anyone knew about her anyway. She had gone to live with Eda after getting kicked out of her tenth school and the only offer still standing from another school had been Hexide’s. She went there for a few weeks before getting kicked out though, and that’s when Eda had officially claimed her as her apprentice (“Don’t worry kid, I got kicked out of there too, you can still stay with me if you want”).

Luz loved Eda like a second mother, her friends had never met her real mother, but they had met Eda. Luz pulls over, putting the car in park as she unscrews Owlbert out from the stick shift and scratches his head with her forefinger. “C’mon, I wasn’t planning on visiting Willow this early,” Luz begins, moving her arm down to pick up a baseball bat and to clip a knife into the waistband of her pants, effectively hiding it from sight. “But I have a feeling there might be trouble.”

She vaults out of the car, not bothering to use the door and putting her arm in on the other side so that King can scramble up her arm. Luz looks at the motorcycle outside the flower shop and checks her pocket to make sure she still has an extra round of bullets just in case. She preferred to use regular weapons like bats and pipes and crowbars, the occasional sword or two but those were really high maintenance.

Luz uses her forearm to push the door open and smiles as Willow looks up from the cash register, her eyes lighting up as she sees Luz. “Luz! When did you get into town? You should have called me!” She yells and runs over to give the girl a hug. “Sorry Willow, I didn’t have the time, we only decided to come back to town last night,” Luz says with a smile as she holds the girl with her left arm but grips the bat with her right. 

She leans into the hug and quietly whispers in her ear, “Saw the motorcycle outside, is that bully giving you trouble?” Luz asks quietly, keeping her smile up so as to not raise alarm in case anyone is watching. Willow waves her off after pulling out of the hug. “No, not at all. I have an understanding with Boscha,” she says and as she does the three eyed girl walks out of the back holding a duffle bag Luz can’t help but suspect is full of either guns, drugs, or both. Probably both.

Boscha does a double take when she sees her. “Holy shit, is that you round ears?” She walks over and puts an arm around Willow. “What’s it been? Eight years since you went to Hexside?” She goes on to say and Luz takes in the scene, notices that Willow seems okay before she smiles back and puts her bat over her shoulders. 

“Yeah, it’s a shame I couldn’t last longer than a month,” she says and Willow pinches Boscha’s side. “Yeah well, it wasn’t entirely your fault. Boscha here had a lot to do with that, did you ever end up getting your diploma?” Willow asks and Luz shakes her head. “Nah, but I don’t need one anyway. People won’t shoot at me any less if I’m educated,” she comes back with a smile. 

Boscha snorts and looks her up and down, “You in a mafia then? A gang? You look like you can pack one hell of a punch,” Boscha says as she motions to Luz’s shoulders and arms. Luz liked to keep her sleeves rolled up and the top button of her shirt undone so that it gave her shoulders some room. Usually that tended to leave them out and visible for people to see. 

It was true, she had even turned to fighting rings at a few points when the money wasn’t coming fast enough or she needed to get a few favors. “Nah, think of me as a sword for hire, I just kinda wander around and take odd jobs.” She says with a shrug, King groans, “Luz can we go now? Your friend isn’t in trouble and I’m bored.” Willow laughs and Boscha grins.

“Sounds like it’s my time to leave, I’ll see you later Willow, bye Boscha.” She’s already in her car and about to pull out when Boscha runs over to her. “Hey, look, um I know I did a lot of things to you and your friends and I’m sorry about that. Um, you remember Amity?” Boscha says and Luz nods, she had become friends with the girl before she got kicked out, and then she didn’t see her much anymore after that, especially after Luz left. 

“Well, here,” Boscha says and gives her a piece of paper with a hurriedly written down address and number. “Go to that address and she’ll put you to work, won’t even have to join or anything.” She says and Luz’s eyebrows hike up in surprise. 

“Amity Blight is in a mafia?”

“Amity Blight  _ runs _ a mafia,” Eda Clawthorn corrects from her kitchen as Luz runs a hand through her hair in the living room. She had left after that, thanking Boscha for the work lead and hauling ass to get over to Eda’s house while the information tumbled in her head. Luz and Amity had been friends, or well, they had just started being friends. She had been kicked out after Luz and Amity and Willow all played a game of Grudgeby together against the school’s team.

It had been a month, maybe a month and a half into the school year. Luz wasn’t entirely sure, she was bad with time and dates, sometimes everything flew by quicker than she could process, and sometimes it was like she was stuck in tar as everything  _ s l o w l y p a s s e d b y  _ and she hated it. It made things difficult for her to keep track of and made her angry sometimes. 

Eda came into the room with four sandwiches (she threw one to Hooty who swallowed it whole) and sat down next to Luz. “I can’t believe Amity Blight runs a mafia.” Luz wiped her face with her hand, keeping it over her mouth as she burned a hole in the floor with her eyes. “Yeah, she came here trying to recruit you when she came to recruit me. Was really surprised when I told her you had left years ago and had left again when you returned.” She says, handing Luz a sandwich.

“Really?” Luz asks, taking the sandwich and holding it. “Oh yeah, she had no idea you left. Apparently she had tried to call you and text you but could never get a hold of you,” Eda goes on to say and Luz feels horrible. “Then she went and found your little friends and they had told her that you hadn’t said goodbye to anyone because you had promised you’d come back. And then you did, nearly two years later the first time, and then it just kept getting longer and longer each time you left and your visits were shorter and shorter.”

Luz feels horrible. She had told Amity she was leaving. And then she did. Amity must have thought she had come back and stayed back or something. Had Willow or Gus really not told her that Luz rarely came home? Luz took a bite of her sandwich, suddenly not hungry despite not having ate the last day or two. 

“Wow, I wonder what she’s like now?” She finds herself saying. Eda snorts, “She’s a good person, takes care of Bones Borough. She pays jobs right and treats the shop keepers fine, offers them protection for small favors. Keeps the surrounding mafias peaceful and in check. For starting up from the ground to now and coming out a good person even after how her parents raised her? She’s definitely a good kid.” Eda says, finishing her sandwich and grabbing Luz’s shoulder. 

“Anyways, c’mon, I wanna see what you’ve done with Owlbert,” she says excitedly and rubs her hands together while the owl nests in her hair. Luz finishes her sandwich as they walk outside, laughing as Eda vaults into the car like she had done half an hour prior. “Well, you’ve kept the dents and scratches to a minimum, the leather still looks to be in good shape,” Eda opens the door and slips over to the hood as she opens it. 

“Lookin’ good, looking good. Well, at least I know you aren’t abususing the only innocent one of us,” Eda says, coming back over to Luz and ruffling her hair. “Now, show me where you got shot.” She says suddenly and Luz laughs nervously. “What? Me? Shot? Never,” she says and Eda snorts before pushing her back into the house. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Awkwardness and a duel to the death

Luz takes a deep breath, drumming her hands on her thighs. “It’s okay, just, go to town and find a payphone.” She starts, leaning against the stonewall of the tower connected to the Owl House. “They’d both be asleep though,” Luz argues, one of her hands disappearing into her hair. “Mami always answers though, and she’d be home from the late shift by now if she isn’t asleep. And if she doesn’t answer, then call Amity, she deserves an apology. She deserves a lot of apologies,” Luz whispers the end as she turns around and slides down the cold stone. 

She pulls her knees up to her chest and buries her face in them as she sighs. A breeze starts up and Luz finds herself picking herself up and sitting on one of the walls. Her eyes stay closed but she doesn’t care, she’d always loved closing her eyes while in the car. Whether she was sticking her head out of her mother’s windows or Eda needed to run an errand, or even now. 

Luz had never turned to drugs or alcohol or nicotine to provide her with a feeling of freedom. No, she had turned to the weightless feeling of the wind and the burning sensation of sore muscles after a good work out or fight and the memory of the smell of the Hispanic dishes she and her mother used to make when she was younger. 

Luz leaned forward, the tips of her fingers pressing against the stone as they helped keep her from falling. Luz sat there for as long as she could. She couldn’t tell whether it lasted too long or too short. And then it ended, and suddenly it didn’t last nearly long enough. She sighed and turned around, pushing herself off the stone and finding simple pleasure in the nice  _ shk _ sound her shoes make as they rub against the pebbles on the crumbling piece of architecture.

Luz grabs the glass of water she had brought up with her nearly an hour before and kneels down to water the plant that had sat there even before she had come to Bones Burough to enroll at Hexside. “Don’t suppose you could tell me what to do, huh?” Luz asks with a small smile, sighing when the plant doesn’t reply before making her way down the crumbling staircase and making her way to the kitchen to deposit the glass in the sink. She’s halfway out of the door when she partially realizes where she’s going though, and even then she still doesn’t completely accept her destination, masking it in her mind as just a walk. And it is just a walk. 

An hour long walk. Through the woods. At night. Passing all of the payphones once she’s exited the forest until she’s suddenly standing in front of a door with a familiar set of numbers. “How the fuck did I get here?” She asks as she comes out of her autopilot-like state, her hand raised to either knock on the door or having just accomplished the task. She finds herself hoping it wasn’t the latter as she awkwardly turns around and starts to walk away (What time was it? Why had she come here? This didn’t look like a mafia base, she probably had the wrong address. Yeah that was it, she had the wrong address, now she could go back to Eda’s house, it was fine). “Can I help you?” The voice washes over Luz, sending a ripple effect of a shiver down from her head to her toes and back up as she quietly panics to herself before awkwardly turning around and raising her hand to give a little wave. Apparently her hand was raised because she  _ had knocked _ . “Hey Amity, guess who’s back in town?” Luz brings her hands up to do finger guns.  _ Finger guns.  _ She just found out Amity had no idea where the hell Luz was and probably thought her to be dead, and she comes to her  _ house at three in the morning to do finger guns. _

Luz lets out some nervous laughter and gives Amity, who hadn’t said a word, an anxious and awkward smile. “I um- I’m sorry, I’ll, I’ll go, um, sorry if I woke you up,” Luz starts and goes to turn around before Amity has made her way over to her in three steps ( _ badap badap badap _ as the back of her feet touch the ground before the balls of her feet) and Luz’s wrist is trapped in Amity’s grasp. “What was the one thing Luz and I had entirely to ourselves that we never told anyone about?” Amity asks, her face is cold but Luz thinks, hopes that she sees, that there is a flicker of desperation in her eyes. Luz gives her a chuckle and turns back around. “The Good Witch Azura, our Azura book club. We’d read in your little hideout in the library, one time I snuck over to your house because you were sick and I almost died twice.” 

Amity covers her mouth with her freehand before scowling at Luz. “You show up  _ now _ of all times? Why did you never visit me? What are you doing awake anyways? You’re gonna get sick if you keep standing out here, come in you dummy.” Amity says, pulling Luz into her house. Luz laughs nervously as she nearly falls flat on her face as she trips over the threshold and her hands go to grab her sketchbook as it flings itself out of her belt (she could remember to bring her sketchbook and holster but not wear a shirt that wasn’t a  _ tank top _ ? Luz hoped she wasn’t making a bad impression). 

She catches it with a hand and stands up, sighing as she clips it back to her belt. “I’m sorry I showed up so late at night,” she says awkwardly as she turns around and sees Amity sitting on a little bay window next to the door. She’s quiet, pensive, as her eyes bore into Luz’s eyes, her soul, looking for something, anything to give away that this wasn’t her Luz. 

Her eyes go from Luz’s eyes to her neck to her shoulders to her arms, down to her legs and then back up in several quick glances. She takes notice of the scars and the burn on her arm. They stand awkwardly for a moment. So many things unsaid and unknown and unexplained, neither of them knew where to start. 

Luz opened her mouth to speak right as Amity did, they both stuttered before the heavy silence settled on their shoulders again. “So you run a mafia now?” Luz asks, scratching the back of her neck nervously.  _ Small talk? Really Noceda? You find her house, show up in the middle of the night, for small talk? _ “Y-Yeah, um, I heard you’re a mercenary?” Amity asks, which was true, Willow and Eda had told her as much, which she was grateful for. They were pretty much her only source of information on the other girl, and even then she didn’t have much time to sit down and ask about her old friend. 

“Yeah, it’s kind of cool actually, I have to drive around a lot and sleep with one eye open but it’s a lot of fun sometimes!” Luz responds, a flicker of a smile ghosting her lips as she looks up to meet Amity’s curious eyes. “Really? Why do you have to be so on guard?” Luz’s embarrassed look and grin makes Amity giggle when she says “I have a tendency to piss people off, it’s kinda why I’m back in town. Oh! Boscha gave me your address by the way, she said I should come talk to you for work!” Luz says, remembering why she had the address in the first place. “She said this was the address to your mafia headquarters,” Luz clarifies and Amity twitches as she grins through gritted teeth. “Oh really, did she now?”  _ Would it be a waste to shoot that tripod in the foot?  _ “Yeah! I guess she must’ve given me the wrong address though,” Luz starts but her sentence trails off as she sees something walk down the hallway. Butterscotch stalks down the hallway, taking a second to look Luz up and down much like his owner had before coming over and rubbing himself against Luz’s legs. “Cat. You have cat. Cat is cute. Cat is mine now.” Luz says before picking up the fluffy calico stray. “Hey wait, you can’t have my cat,” Amity says and Luz gives her a look. “Fight to the death for the cat?” She offers and Amity pulls her gun out of the waistband of her pants, cocking it wordlessly. Luz pulls her revolver from her holster, spinning it’s bullet chamber before closing it with a flick of her wrist. They both start cracking up, Luz’s laughter and bodily shakes causing Butterscotch to mewl in disdain and jump out of Luz’s arms to climb the stairs up to the second floor. 

They watch him climb the stairs before their soft laughter becomes hard and heavy, laughing far too much over something so simple. Neither of them could explain why it was funny, or why the awkward tension seemed to melt the moment they pulled out their guns ironically. “Why don’t we catch up in the kitchen?” Amity offers and Luz nods, following her old friend into the kitchen. They've both sorely missed each other.


	4. Chapter 4

“Okay okay okay, so you snuck into their office, hid opened cans of sardines in their walls, and  _ then  _ repaired them?” Amity asks as she laughs and Luz nods. “I told them I was only going to work a few jobs for them and then they tried to brand me! I say they deserve a lot more than rotting fish in their walls,” Luz counters and Amity wipes her eyes to get rid of the tears that had blossomed there. 

“What about you? Are you going to serenade me with stories of your own sarcastic wit?” Luz asks, wiggling her eyebrows as she brings her cup of tea up to her mouth and takes a slow sip. She had burned her tongue when she first tasted it and now everything tastes burnt. “Hm, what’s a good story to tell…” Amity taps her fingers against her table and Luz waits patiently until Amity laughs and shakes her head, raising both hands in a “wait” gesture.

“Okay okay, so one time Willow came to the compound to pick up some money we owed her, I usually have Boscha bring it to her but she was out on a job. So, Willow shows up and we’re talking and then someone runs up to me and they’re telling me that Boscha is in handcuffs and that the police are outside of the compound, this was a few years ago, we have a different headquarters now, so I walk out there and I’m doing my whole thing you know?” Luz nods, imagining Amity walking outside and staring down some boys in blue.

“And so I’m about to open my mouth and do my whole spiel about what they got there and why would it concern me when Willow comes storming out from the other street yelling Boscha’s name. ‘A whole hour I’ve been waiting outside the restaurant!’ ‘If you’re were going to stand me up you could have at least not gotten arrested!’.” Amity says and it’s Luz’s turn to start laughing.

“She didn’t,” Luz says breathlessly and Amity nods with the most serious face she can muster. “She did! Right there in broad daylight! In front of the cops too! So the cops are confused as hell and tell her to stay away but Willow marches right up to Boscha and slaps her so hard it left a red hand mark for the next ten minutes,” Amity’s eyes are big and her voice is strained as she tries to explain. 

“So the cops are telling her she can’t do that and Boscha is stunned into silence and the entire time Willow is yelling at Boscha and lecturing her and then she looks at the handcuffs and says ‘Well for your sake I hope our handcuff keys will unlock this,’ and grabs her by the chain of the handcuffs and walks off with her!” Amity’s baffled expression sells the whole thing and Luz has her face in her hands as tears stream down her face from laughing so hard. “Willow?” “Willow.” “ _ Our _ Willow?” “The very same.” 

“Goddamnit Willow,” Luz says good naturedly. “You can’t imagine how red Boscha was for the next few days, couple of weeks maybe.” Amity says and Luz nods. “Were they even dating?” Luz asks and Amity shakes her head. “No! Boscha flirted every now and then and Willow would give her free flowers on her birthday but other than that there was nothing! No one had expected it,” Amity’s voice is high pitched and shrill as she finishes the story, and Luz stands up and takes her cup to pour them more tea. 

“I can’t believe she’d do that, that’s the funniest thing I’ve heard.” Luz says, setting the cups down, only now noticing they were mugs with cute little designs on them. “Yeah, we still make jokes about Boscha and handcuffs. Willow has that pair on a plaque in her house. Amity says and Luz turns to look at her with wide eyes. “Those are what they’re from?” She practically yells and Amity laughs. 

“You’ve seen them then?” Luz nods. “I asked what they were from, but she never gave me an answer.” Amity sighs and leans back in her chair. She and Luz had been talking for several hours, the sun was due to rise in another hour or two. She had been having a stressful week, a neighboring mafia was trying to wiggle its way into Bones Borough while saying they were on her side. 

So she had to send patrols out for the entirety of the week to keep them away, and then a job had gone wrong and some new recruits had lost a new shipment of weapons and ammo, and to top it all off she had been buried neck deep in paperwork the entire time. A portion of it was sitting on her desk in her bedroom but the majority of it was in her office in the compound. “Is Butterscotch your palisman?” Luz asks, sitting down and placing Amity’s drink in front of her. 

“Hm? Oh no, here let me see if he’s awake.” Amity stands up and starts walking out of the kitchen and Luz smiles, leaning back in her chair as she closes her eyes. She took this moment to let herself become flustered, she had been holding it back the entire time, getting distracted by good conversation and the warm drink resting in her hands. Amity hadn’t changed much, she was still a hardworking woman, she still read when she had the time and she was still a powerful witch, though none of that surprised Luz. 

It was Amity after all, and she may have been a bit of a bully at one point, but that didn’t mean she didn’t stop caring and being nice after Luz left. What had surprised her was that, while Amity had of course grown, Luz was now taller than her. Luz kept having the urge to tease her about it, she wouldn’t right now, not while the conversations were smooth and enjoyable. She’d tease her later when she could prompt a tease war. She’ll start preparing her ammunition later. 

What was a real surprise though, that she admittedly hadn’t gotten over just yet, was when she saw that Amity had an undercut. She had been too distracted at first to notice but when they had made their way into the kitchen she had clocked it immediately. She still hadn’t brought it up but she felt her cheeks flush red at the thought of it. She had the extreme urge to run her hand through Amity’s hair. 

“Here he is, sorry, he didn’t want to come down from his perch,” Anity says, entering the room and effectively startling Luz who falls back with the chair and hits her head on the ground. “Son of a b-“ she says on her way down and Amity rushes over to her, “Luz are you okay?” She asks and Luz groans but gives her a thumbs up. “A little embarrassed, but I’m good. Got a pretty good view,” she says and winks at Amity who blushes and pokes her.

“After all these years you’d think you’d be a little less clumsy.” Luz chuckles and starts to get up, Amity helping her before she picks up and places the chair back pushed in under the table. “But it’s  _ so  _ much fun being clumsy.” Luz leans against the table, momentarily forgetting the entire reason Amity had left the room before her eyes fell upon a bat perched on Amity’s shoulder. “Oh I’m sure, all of those concussions must make everything seem fun to you. Anyways, this is Clyde, he’s my palisman.” Amity says, scratching the little tuft of fur on his chest and under his chin. 

“Clyde?” Luz asks with a raised brow and a smirk and Amity gives her a challenging stare. “What’s wrong with the name Clyde?” She asks and Luz gives her a sweet laugh. “Nothing’s wrong with it, it’s cute. I really like it. We might even have to duel to the death over him too.” Amity chuckled. 

They talked for a little while longer, but Luz left as the sun rose, thanking Amity for the tea and apologizing for keeping her up all night. It was only until Luz was a few minutes away from Eda’s house did she realize she hadn’t got the address to Amity’s mafia headquarters. “LUUUUUUUUUZ!” But that was something to worry about later, she thought as King tackled her and she saw out of the corner of her eye Eda giving her a proud glare. She might be in a little trouble for disappearing.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz needs a nap and once again finds herself going through Amity's bookshelf (luckily the things inside won't come to life this time!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I goes sleep now, you should too when you finish reading this lol

“Eda I’m tired,” Luz drawls out, sprawled across the backseat of the car. Eda snorts, “Well maybe if you hadn’t snuck out last night then you wouldn’t  _ be _ tired.” Luz groans and King snickers as she sits up and leans her head out the side. “Where are we going again?” She asks and King turns around to answer her. 

“ _ We _ weren’t supposed to be going anywhere. I was going to let you sleep and rest that arm of yours up today, but apparently you wanted an adventure instead of rest, so now you get to help me deliver some supplies.” Luz sighs and closes her eyes, a smile making its way onto her face despite her tiring predicament. She didn’t regret what she did, it was nice getting to see Amity again, and she had fun that didn’t involve very nearly dying or being surrounded by people that would just as quickly kill her as they would have her go on a job with them. Luz is nearly asleep, the wind and vibrations of the car lulling her into a sense of comfort that her lack of sleep grabs onto and refuses to let go, when Eda begins to slow and pulls to a stop outside of a large parking garage meets an office-like building. It’s wide with two or three stories, Luz can’t really tell as she hops out of the car and walks over to the trunk. There’s double doors in the front with nice looking windows and few people hanging out in front of it. The parking lot isn’t very long, maybe only fitting ten or twelve cars in a line with four rows, but from having general knowledge of how these kinds of fancy places go, Luz can gather that there’s a bigger garage attached to the building or close by. 

There’s a few motorcycles parked out front, a couple sleek looking cars and a handful of hulking trucks (Luz wonders how big the palismen that are attached to them may be, but knows that they are probably stand alone trucks, not every witch- or human for that matter- has a palismen). Owlbert flies over and lands on her shoulder, nuzzling her neck as she lifts the heavy duffle bags and shuts the trunk. “You got em’ kid?” Eda asks with a knowing smile and Luz nods as they begin to make their way to the door. Eda walks right past the stragglers all smoking and laughing in the front, their eyes paying careful attention to Luz as she stares ahead and squares her jaw. She’s a sweet person, but being sweet isn’t the best first impression someone can make when it comes to these sorts of jobs. One of them gives her a smile though and she returns it, seeing everyone else lighten up around them. There’s sweetness in strength though, and what is given she always tries to return. 

Eda opens the door and Luz holds it open for King with her foot before letting it close behind her as she walks in. Immediately she notices that Willow is sitting in a chair in a large main area room with big windows and nice looking furniture. Willow is scrolling through her phone, giggling every few minutes and Luz calls out to her. “Oh! Luz, what are you doing here?” The woman asks her, standing up from her seat and walking over to where the trio (plus Owlbert, sweet little thing) all stand. “We’re just delivering some supplies Eda was apparently holding onto for this mafia, what’re you doing here?” Willow smiles and nods, “I’m just collecting a payment for holding onto some stuff for them,” Willow pauses as her phone vibrates and she looks down at it. “Oh, she’s ready for me to go up there, come on, you can join me.” Willow says without elaborating and Luz wonders who “she” and “they” are, maybe Boscha? She was supposed to be another mafia leader in town. 

Luz looked up to Eda who snorted and said, “Don’t look at me kid, you’re an adult now, let’s just follow your friend.” Luz blushes in embarrassment and nods, walking behind her friends as they walk over to an elevator. Several people depart from it before they get on, essentially taking up the entire space. King begins to complain that it’s too cramped and that someone would have to leave before Luz scoops him up and puts him on her shoulder. “There you go little buddy!” Willow giggles and Eda snorts and tells her to be careful of her shoulder and jokingly wonders how Luz has even stayed alive without her.

“I’ll be alright, ‘sides, it’s just for a minute Eda!” Eda rolls her eyes at the other woman’s playful happy chatter as she moves on to talk to Willow as they leave the elevator and walk down the hall to an office with a steel door and clouded glass. Willow opens the door and lets everyone enter. “Hey Amity, look who tagged along!” Amity looked up from the paperwork littered on and around her desk, a pen loosely held in her hands and one of her lips captured between her teeth as her eyebrows quickly become un-furrowed upon seeing the large group now standing in her office. “Willow, you brought Luz!” She says in surprise and Luz gives her a smile and sets King down. 

“Actually Blight, she didn’t bring us, here’s those supplies I’ve been meaning to bring by, and we just tagged along,” Eda clarifies with a smile and a shrug and Amity nods. “Right,set them over there by that bookshelf please, give me just a moment to get you both your payment.” Luz sets King down and moves over to the left side of the room, sliding the large heavy bags off of her shoulder as Amity swivels in her chair and leans down to open a drawer and unlock it with magic, pulling out a stack of cash and silently counting it as Luz steals a look at the books on the shelf. She recognizes a few titles with a big smile, books she recommended to Amity when they were younger and still in school, along with assortments of murder mysteries, accounting, magic books, history books, and various other titles and types. 

Luz could already imagine Amity sitting in the desk chair reading, or maybe getting part way through a book at home and then bringing it to work and placing it forever more on the shelf. “So how has your morning been?” Willow asks as Amity hands Eda her money first and then begins to count Willow’s. “Not very eventful, lacking coffee if anything, but other than that it was fine. Clyde’s been sleeping all morning too.” Amity answers and Willow nods. “Wish I could say the same, Luz disappeared in the middle of the night and then returned an hour after we noticed she was missing, no note or anything. I have half a mind to buy a truth potion and use it on her, she won’t tell us where she went.” Eda says and Luz turns to face her with a smile, not looking at Amity who stops counting and looks up in amusement. “Oh really now? Liz that’s very irresponsible of you,” She says with a smirk and Luz sticks her tongue out at the woman. “I’m an adult now, besides, you know I always return when I leave.” She says, returning her focus to Eda. 

“Whatever you say kid.” The air is a little heavier after that but Luz’s smile and the constant flow of conversation between her and Willow as they catch up while Amity counts and Eda plops down into a chair keeps the atmosphere light. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz works on her car and hangs out with the gang

Luz was under her car in Willow’s garage. It was a small thing, not much of a garage at all really. If anyone were to look at it they wouldn’t think  _ oh it’s a garage _ , no instead they’d think  _ why is there this extra bit of space behind Willow’s shop?  _ Willow’s “garage” was really just a few feet of extra space squished between the alleyway that opened up onto two roads to the left and right and Willow’s greenhouse which was connected directly to her flower shop. She sold other things too of course, but most people buy flowers when a town is under the reign of a mafia, even if Amity’s mafia was more peaceful than the ones Luz had seen, she wasn’t surprised to hear from Willow that people mainly bought “Get well soon!” and “I’m sorry for your loss” types of bouquets. Willow didn’t mind though, there was always some young person buying flowers for their sweetheart, and some old person buying flowers for  _ their _ sweetheart. Always a grandparent bringing their grandchild into the shop so that they could look around and be amazed by the miazma of colors and petals.

Not very many people dared to try and rob Willow either, she was protected by not only one but two mafias, as well as being a little too good with her craft. All it would take was just a little twirl of her fingers and any intruder would be either running away with their tail between their legs or tied up by vines and left to hang upside down from the ceiling until either a member of one of the mafias or the police showed up. Either would do, and either would be quick as a flash. 

A radio’s music was spilling from the greenhouse’s opened backdoor, filling Luz’s ears with sounds that weren’t just the cranking and clacking of tools against different metal parts of her car and the soft muttered curses and off key singing that occasionally leaves her mouth. Luz was getting restless while sitting around, well,  _ resting _ . Something that Luzand the people around her had quickly learned was that Luz was an ever moving ball of energy. Sure she could slow down every once in awhile, but there would always be a point where she needed to get up and move. While she loved and missed her mentor, she could not sit down on the woman’s couch for another five minutes simply sitting still and relaxing. She needed something to do, someone to talk to, anything that didn’t involve sitting still with nothing for her to focus on. 

So she drove to Willow’s, stood awkwardly still by the counter until she finished ringing up a customer (a young hexide student by the looks of their uniform, a few of their friends giggling in a group behind them while they sheepishly paid for a bouquet of lovely roses) before Willow gave her a pity smile and told her she was welcome to work on her car out back. Which was where she was now, laying under her car and performing a checkup she didn’t even need. She had already done an entire checklist of things like changing the oil (she had taken off her shirt to avoid staining it, but in doing so she had gotten the stuff all over her bare skin), checking the tires, cleaning out the inside of the car, fixing dents and washing the windshield. Owlbert was nesting contently in a hanging plant inside the greenhouse, occasionally Luz would look at him through the opened door and awe when her view wasn’t blocked. 

It was a slow day and Amity hadn’t had any jobs for her yesterday but promised to come to her if she did so it wasn’t like she had anything else to do. Luz sighed and crawled out from under the vehicle, leaning against it and wiping off her tools with a cloth before haphazardly wiping off her face (barely getting the job done and still leaving a rather fair amount on the lower portion of her face). It was at this moment two people walked into the greenhouse, just as Luz got up and opened the hood. They were making easy conversation, speaking of work and events that would be coming up soon with the changes of the seasons and months. One laughed as Owlbert swooped in between the two and scared the other, flying through the door and landing on Luz’s shoulder. “What’s up buddy?” Luz asks and looks up to see Willow and Gus walking through the door. “Hey Luz! Long time no see!” Luz and Gus walked over to each other, giving one another a long meaningful hug and smoothly trading pleasantries despite not having seen each other for so long. 

“How’s work?” Luz asks and Gus nods. “Work is good, I managed to convince my dad that people do read newspapers online so now I’m in charge of the online papers and so far they’ve been a big hit. What about you?” He gives an easy smile and Luz nods. “Work has been a little rough, I’m now on the run from another mafia, just gonna be hiding low here for the next week or two but other than that it’s been pretty good.” Luz is eye to eye with Gus now, both being around the same height, but the man has changed. 

He’s happy and energetic, but a little calmer and less on-going than he was when they were all in school. His smile is kind and welcoming, as well are his eyes, and Luz knows if she asked him to he’d most likely help her with anything just like in school, but she can see that he’s a little more laid back. Not closed off, but definitely not as “I’m here and I’m happy and I’m always at level ten energy!” as he used to be. Which they could all understand, times could be tough, but Gus still felt like home and they were all friends so Luz felt good and happy. 

They all talk for a little while, moving from in front of the door to the ground to the car (Willow sitting neatly with her legs out on the seat in the back, Gus laying as far down as the passenger seat will let him and occasionally making funny faces and Luz sitting on the car door rather than the seat) as the waves of the conversations take them to different places. Eventually they land on the conversation of parents and Luz feels anxious and ready to drop it until they turn to her and ask about her mother. “How is your mom Luz?” Luz was always close with her mom, she loved the woman to death and her friends knew this of course, but she had never told her mom that she was jumping from mafia to mafia for work. 

They must’ve seen the grimace Luz felt was taking over her face because they both made their own faces. “I haven’t talked to her in over six months.” Both of their mouths drop wide open as they stare in shock and disbelief at Luz. “Six months?” They question in unison and she nods. “Have you at least visited her before then?” Gus asks and Luz shakes her head no. A pause takes over as Gus and Willow share a worried/concerned look and Willow turns to speak up “Luz when was the last time you saw your mother?” 

Luz sheepishly rubs the back of her neck and avoids eye contact. “I haven’t seen her since I left to go to school at Hexide.” “Luz!” They both yell and Luz gives them a small smile. “I’ve been meaning to call her but I’ve been busy and she doesn’t know I’m a mercenary and I don’t want to worry her-” “You’re probably worrying her right now!” Gus speaks up and Luz buries her face in her hands. “Yeah yeah I know, look I promise I’ll call her before I leave town okay? Can we please just change the conversation?” The two exchange one more glance before reluctantly nodding and changing the topic over to Hexide. The afternoon finishes a lot smoother than the interrogation about Luz and her contact skills. 


End file.
